Do the A-Z author challenge

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

This book tells the tale of Balram Halwai and his rise from being a servant to being a successful entrepreneur in India. It is a fairly short book, but very well written. I thought it was great.

A: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
B: The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
C: The Stranger by Albert Camus
D: Sinner by Sara Douglass

I accidentally read book 4 instead of book 1 in her series—but good nonetheless. I was having a hard time finding a “D” book I wanted to read—was trying to avoid the fantasy genre since I read a lot of it (and I am using this goal to read books I would probably otherwise not read)- but it was entertaining and it fit my criteria for this challenge. Woot. Onto E!

Rage Against the Meshugenah: Why It Takes Balls to Go Nuts

Another non-fiction, this time a memoir. And, wow. I read this one in two sittings only taking a break because my head needed time to get around this. I cannot remember WHY this book was on my list, but I’m so glad it was.

This guy was able to articulate what is was like to drop into depression, and expressed how it FEELS and and – damn it felt so nice to have someone understand me, I guess.

Not all doom and gloom, this was written with a lot of humour and insight and heart. I highly recommend it.

It turned out that the series had a new addition.
So, there were four books not three.
And, I’m just pages away from finishing the fourth.

So, I guess I’ll be starting this soon! :D

Just bought my first A-Z challenge book. It took me a while, it´s not easy to avoid all those interesting juicy books from B to Z!

Andahazi, Federico – El Conquistador (The conqueror)
We´ll see…

The First Family: Terror, Extortion and the Birth of the American Mafia.

The first non-fiction book on the list, this is an account of how the Mafia got started in the US. Not as dry as your typical non-fiction writing, but certainly nowhere near as exciting as the fictional tales of corruption a la Godfather. It was weird, however, reading names that were known from the Godfather film series (Corleone, etc) and even weirder to realize that all the crime and punishment stuff that happened to actual persons. Real life and not nearly as glamourous as hollywood portays.

I’m debating between Stoker’s Dracula and Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye for my “S” book. Which would you guys choose?

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
My boyfriend recommended this to me and to be honest I was a little loath to try it as it’s a “classic” and I tend to be a lot more fond of contemporary books. It was great though! I really enjoyed it – it was very hard to put down.

He had several S books for me but no Ts in his house for some reason. It’ll have to wait til I get home. But it’s my birthday soon so I should be getting a U and maybe a W, X (I have a V planned already).

A: Gunnar Ardelius: I need you more then I love you and I love you to bits
B: Alessandro Baricco: Silk
C: Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist
D: Sijie Dai: Balzac and the little Chineese Seamstress
E: Jeffrey Eugenides: Middlesex
F: Torbjörn Flygt: Verkan

A-Jane Austen-Pride And Prejudice
B-Dan Brown-The DaVinci Code
C-Caroline B. Cooney-Goddess Of Yesterday
D-John H. Davis-Mafia Dynasty
E-
F-Jim Fielder-Slow Death
G-Margaret George-The Memoirs Of Cleopatra
H-Thomas Harris-Silence Of The Lambs
I-
J-
K-Stephen King-It
L-
M-Christopher Moore-Lamb
N-Irene Nemirovsky-Suite Francaise
O-
P-Mario Puzo-The Godfather
Q-
R-Anne Rice-Interview With A Vampire (Vampire Chronicles )